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Watch out that it has not been sitting with an open exhaust pipe aimed skyward. Neighbor had a big 4-cylinder compressor parked longtime, found rainwater had gotten down onto the block. Had to do a ring job. If it runs, try it out with the fattest rod you have at the proper amperage for the rod and see how long a bead it'll make. If it won't run on the spot, or doesn't have leads, a ground clamp, a stinger, I wouldn't buy it. If you know and trust the seller and she knows what she is talking about and she says it just needs a little TLC, that's different.

If that telltale angry red zone from an infection starts to appear around a burn after a day or so-- and my shop must have nasty germs in it, because every burn, and I have had many, seems to get infected-- I slather it with the only stuff I have found to work: sulfadiazene about an eighth of an inch thick. I cover it with gauze and keep it dry and clean until the infection abates. The thickness of the sulfadiazene is important. This stuff is prescription-only, but if you know a friendly veterinarian, they can supply it, too. It lasts forever, apparently, so I ignore the throwaway date on the container.

Frosty-- I, too, have a 300-pound Hay-Budden with an 1/8-inch or so declivity amidships. I'd leave it alone if I were you. The smith I bought mine from said he liked it , used it daily, found it especially useful for straightening and I feel that way, too. I would not mill or grind down the top of any anvil to level. Also, gotta say, I have seen renowned Santa Fe smithing teacher Frank Turley's Rat Hole anvil and it is really a beauty and he has told me he loves it.

Pascalou, you are a master artist-craftsperson!! Just lovely work! Thanks for posting the pictures!

I had an AWS-certified welding teacher of vast pipeline experience tell me it's impossible to get a really good-looking bead with 6011, near-kin to 6010, both pipe rods. Mine certainly come out rough no matter what. These rods are not made for pretty, but for burning through gradue and floating slag up and out. Don't use 7018 as a root pass on an open joint, I recall, forget why. I'd say you are doing great with the 6010 and the 7018.

Who makes these? Thanks.

The temptation lies in being able to do it over the phone out of a catalog is why, if you live out in the boonies as some of us do. Do not succumb is all I am saying. That's the whole idea. Buying second hand oxy-acetylene equipment is a real gamble unless the vendor is somebody you know and trust who knows what she is doing with it and swears it works.

Caver95-- found it: "Acetylene cylinders that have been lying on their side must stand upright for 15 minutes or more before they are used." p. 23 Welding Principles and Applications, Jeffus and Johnson, 2nd edition, Delmar Publishers, 1988

Some welding text or teacher I came across years ago said to wait 15 minutes to let things calm down after standing the acetylene bottle up

Whatever you do, do NOT buy a Sears oxy-acetylene rig (for that matter, any Sears anything). Harris makes (or used to, anyway) their O-A stuff, puts Sears's name on it. Harris makes truly fine equipment, has terrific tech support and repair. BUT, they won't touch a Sears torch or regulator unless it comes back to them via Sears and nobody at Sears, and I mean nobody, knows anything about O-A, or Harris, except one Sears liaison clerk the existence of whom nobody else in Sears has ever heard of. Go to your local O-A welding boutique (our motto: "We don't care if you live or die") and buy your name brand-- Harris, Victor, Smith, etc.)-- gear there. Get two-stage regulators. Shop around for bottles.

Either way should work, clamping to the workpiece directly or to the steel table-- unless the workpiece itself is not getting good contact with the table. I think a jumper would add to the clutter, introduce new variables (ampacity? good connections?) that might even reduce amperage. Also, that mystery (to me, anyway), arc blow, can be a problem if your ground is too close to the stinger.

Lindsay Books-- www.lindsaybks.com-- has many old time machinist texts in their catalog, including some specifically re: drill bits. Their print catalog has much more than the on-line list of goodies.

Pascalou, please post pix of work(s) in progress!! Thanks!

Thomas-- Nope, as with the Rotex 18 punch press, sans punches and their rotating holder,(but just the same, a potentially functional tool worth ten grand new retail) that came out of another trash bin (they break off the asparagus pretty high up on the stalk hereabouts) I did not fully realize what I had in hand-- and what components I did not have, such as the work rest the Square Wheel was born with-- until later. As you do, and as you know, I patronize the Side of the Road Shop frequently. Looking even harder at improving the Square Wheel now 'cause a friend wants me to make him a knife. 440C. Ewwwww!!

A while back I found-- yes, found! In a trash bin, no less!-- a fully functional old-tyme Square Wheel 72-inch belt grinder. Wonderful machine. Retails around two grand. Recently I came upon an online manual for same, showing an accessory I like, that accomodates 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 wheels under the belt. A tad pricey, but, hey, it's only money. Uh huh.

james gonzalez posted a picture of a nifty copper garden vessel that he made as a first raising project in the coppersmithing section here just a few days ago, said it had involved some welding. I queried asking him how he had welded it, and he replied: with his Lincoln 300 TIG. Perhaps james could amplify.

Switchblades-- making, selling, carrying-- are almost totally banned by federal law, which trumps state law. The federal law is, of course, more honored in the breach (they are available in lots of blade mags, on the net, in gas stations in Idaho or maybe it's Washington, I forget), but it can make life extremely unpleasant. See: United States Code TITLE 15 - COMMERCE AND TRADE CHAPTER 29 - MANUFACTURE, TRANSPORTATION, OR DISTRIBUTION OF SWITCHBLADE KNIVES Section 1241. Definitions Section 1242. Introduction, Manufacture For Introduction, Transportation Or Distribution In Interstate Commerce; Penalty Section 1243. Manufacture, Sale, Or Possession Within Specific Jurisdictions; Penalty Section 1244. Exceptions Section 1245. Ballistic Knives at FindLaw for Legal Professionals - Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code

Fantastique! How did you weld it? Thanks.

I would anchor it to the post where you plan to use it, give it a good daily soak with B'laster (try your local NAPA dealer), best penetrant I've come across, for a week or maybe two, and if that doesn't free it up, using a pipe wrench and a cheater, but gently, I next try gentle heat on the box. Patience is the key when reincarnating old rusted, jammed tools. I once bent the handle on a big old (U.S.-made) Ridgid pipe wrench loosening a vise in this shape, but it did eventually come free.

What can I say? You are taking a chance with any medical practitioner. I can only present as my evidence a Time-LIFE home medical library volume on bones and muscles that quotes a source stating flatly not to let a chiropractor work on your neck. And. then there is my M.D. sister-in-law, an Ob-Gyn who came to lunch one day after a night of delivering babies at a hospital in Albuquerque. As she came off the delivery room she toldus, she had met a classmate from medical school who was winding up a night tour as the emergency room doc. One patient that shift: a poor soul who had gone to a chiropractor with his stiff neck problem but had to be taken to the ER totally gorked, a quadriplegic. Howver, I must admit New Mexico may be the U.S. capital of quack medicine. Iridologists, crystal therapists, empaths, psychic surgeons, etc. abound. All such off-brand health providers, chiropractors included, scare the xxxx out of me.

Having lived (and worked) with herniated disks without surgery (so far, knock on wood) since 1983, some hard-won advice: when you feel that awful buzzing tingle down the leg, give things a break and rest up. Take it easy. Don't try to rush things or force a recovery. It will do what it will do, heal up or retract, to a large degree in time. Go to a genuine M.D. with lots of experience, a boarded diplomate of the American College of Orthopaedic Surgery if at all possible, and get the MRIs and X-rays and CT scans and myelograms and find out what's wrong. This does not mean an operation is the next step. It can be a weight problem (your weight, notwhat you picked up that popped the disk) or a posture problem or weak lower back and ab muscles. Start fixing those problems when you feel up to it. First recommendation from my orthopod when I popped L-4-L5 (he has never suggested surgery) was to go lie down FLAT for a month. I did. The awful pain down in my shin and foot went away. Next time it happened years later, he said to keep moving as much as possible, and that worked, too. Try to avoid surgery. Stay FAR away from chiropractors. DO NOT EVER LET ONE WORK ON YOUR NECK!! And, stay cheerful. Do not expect much attention from doctors. Their eyes glaze and they start fidgeting, looking at their watch the minute they hear bad back. Good licensed hysical therapy, and Tai Chi and yoga all can help a lot, but remember: easy does it. Until it gets better, don't lift anything, not even your voice in song.

I dimly recall seeing at a solar energy conference down in Texas somewhere, Austin, maybe, back in the last century a picture of a humongous solar array focussed on a piece of wide flange, sliced it like a torch going through wax. I think the rig was set up by one of the government energy labs. No practical value that I know of. Didn't some Greek hero in ancient times set the enemy fleet afire with such a weapon?

Brass pipe, tubing, sheet is usually work-hardened by the manufacturing process and needs to be annealed before you can make anything much out of it, and again, frequently, as you work it thereafter. Otherwise it just crumbles. When you heat it to anneal it and while forging, soldering, brazing, be SURE to have plenty of ventilation and stay away from inhaling the fumes. Toxic.

SmartWool socks are worth every penny, no question.

Brrrr!-- anybody know about anything user-proven wonderful in insulated leathern boots (not Sorels, they are indeed wonderful but are rubber bottomed and will melt) that will keep my tootsies warm whilst (love them Brit words, love 'em!) welding, smiting, outdoors in c. zero F. weather but won't cause the dread foot-sweat chill? I've tried two layers of woollen socks and Ensolite insoles inside my Red Wings. Lasted a few miserable hours but had to stop for fear of frostbite and gangrene. Steel toes and built-in metatarsal guards would be nice, too. Any such around? Many thanks!